A Lover's Pain
by Historyexplorer12
Summary: Achilles tells Patroclus something that ends it all. Warnings: established slash, infedelity, rated T for safety, may be in wrong genres Disclaimer: Characters are not mine!


"Patroclus?" Achilles' voice was barely above a whisper behind me, and as I turned to him, I saw that he was shrinking away from me, and held a wrinkled piece of papyrus in his tense hands.

"Achilles," I smiled, both because I was glad to see him and to hopefully soothe him, even though I was not sure why he was acting like this.

To my surprise he pulled away from my show of affection, but grabbed my hand with some urgency, "I- I must tell you something… In private. Come."

"What is it? Are you well?"

"Just come. Please?"

"All right. Steady, my love, we-" I was stunned when tears wet his fair eyelashes and he began to sob, "'chilles? My dearest love, what is it?" I was truly concerned now.

He shook his head, tears cascading down his face in rivers, "Just come. I must tell you something, and-" here, his breath caught and he could not speak for a moment, "Just come, please? Away for all this noise."

"All right, all right," I followed him, his hand shaking in mine as he took me to our rooms and locked the door behind us.

His whole manner frightened me, but I said nothing even as he sat the foot of our bed and looked up at me.

"Patroclus, I- I've done something awful- You will never forgive me-" he gave a breathless hiccup once more as I crouched in front of him, going to comfort him.

"Whatever you have done, it can be rectified. That is why it is called a mistake, Love…"

"No," he moaned, the sound and sight of his pain tearing at my heart, "It is permanent. What I have done can not be undone. And you will suffer for it!"

"I am afraid I do not quite understand, 'chilles. Tell me from the beginning."

Achilles took a deep breath and wiped his face, squaring his shoulders and setting his mouth, trying to show that he was brave. This worried me even more, he was usually like this with his mother or the other men; never with me. Whatever he had to tell me was serious, there was no doubt. I sat quietly and waited.

"You know that Mother sent me away to keep me from the war?" He began slowly, his voice shaking minutely. I nodded; I knew, "And that I had to disguise myself as a woman during that time?" He looked up at me, his head bowed. I nodded once more, "And that I had several "sisters" in King Lycomedes' daughters?"

"You are frightening me, Love. Did something happen?" I tried to laugh off my worry, but we both knew that it was strained.

"I just received this letter from one of them, Deidemea, that says she just gave birth to a son," I was starting to put things together, and my eyes widened in shock.

"No…" I backed away from him, feeling sick.

"He is mine, Patroclus. I have a son."

"No, that can't be. It can't be. You're lying. Tell me the truth!" Before he could say anything, my legs gave way underneath me and I collapsed to the carpet in tears, knowing by his silence that what he said was not a lie.

He crouched on the carpet as well, tears streaming down his cheeks. When I saw them my pain became anger, and I launched myself at him, putting him on his back and at my mercy. He didn't fight, knowing he deserved my fury at his betrayal.

"Adulterer!" I snarled in his face, ripping the dagger I had in my boot out of its hidden sheath and putting it to his throat.

"Do it. Kill me. I do not deserve to live after what I've done to you…" he sniffed, tears leaking from his eyes.

"Stop it!" I screamed, pushing the dagger more insistently into his throat, "You don't get to cry! You knew the risk of being with her and you did it anyway! You knew it would hurt me and you still- Gods, I don't want to believe-" my tears wet my face and dripped down to wet his chiton, where I had so often laid my head on his chest and felt so safe and loved.

But now…

I shook my head and glared down at my once one true love.

"I hope you rot in Tartarus," with that I got up and left the room, never to look back again.

 **AN: This is based on the myth where Achilles went to Skyros, and lived among the king's daughters disguised as a woman to escape the war at Troy because his mother knew he would die if he fought. I just wanted to see how Patroclus would react if he had found out that Achilles had been unfaithful. I hope you all enjoyed!**


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